


A Guide on How to Stay Awake (Don't Try This At Home)

by WakandaForever2357



Series: Peter Parker Centric Stories [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Crack, Gen, High School Finals got Peter stressed, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Overworked Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter deals with too much, Sleep-Deprived Peter Parker, Stressed Peter Parker, Tired Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29707698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakandaForever2357/pseuds/WakandaForever2357
Summary: Peter's finals are coming up, adding to Spider-Manning, interning, and school. There isn't enough time in the day to do everything, so Peter decides to make some more.Or . . .What happens when you mix Peter with a homemade energy drink consisting of coffee, Red Bull, and a whole bunch of energy drinks?Nothing good, that's for darn sure.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Peter Parker Centric Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2165157
Comments: 7
Kudos: 79





	A Guide on How to Stay Awake (Don't Try This At Home)

Honestly, Peter could never get a break, could he?

He had his life back on track for about three days before disaster struck again, in the form of high school finals. The bane of every high schooler's existence, the cursed thing that absolutely no one looked forward to.

He had to start studying, and suddenly, the days were too short for his liking. There wasn't enough time during the day as he juggled Aca Dec, school, Spider-Man, interning, and now, studying for finals. 

So Peter did what any overworked high school student would do: he turned to coffee. 

But his cursed metabolism was too fast for coffee, and it didn't help Peter stay awake at all.

Peter decided to experiment and mixed coffee with Red Bull. The effect was better, but it still wasn't enough. 

At this point, Peter threw caution to the winds and mixed Red Bull, coffee, and a whole slew of other energy drinks together. 

When he first drank it, his eyes shot open so fast he became disoriented. It took a minute to get used to the effect, but Peter had found his solution. The drink he had concocted helped him stay awake through the night. 

Peter had never expected the solution to be perfect, but he didn't think that it would be _this_ bad. After the energy boost the drink initially provided, it wouldn't stay for very long and it would cause Peter to crash unless he got another cup. It also sometimes sent his senses haywire and he knew the drink wasn't helping with his appearance at all, he had to use concealer to hide the darkening shadows under his eyes.

But Peter was _fine._

Totally and completely fine.

He was getting all of his things done, he was keeping up with his life, and Aunt May had even told him she was proud of him for being so responsible.

It didn't matter that he was starting to look like a zombie, or that he was having headaches, or that he hadn't slept in a week, because he was _fine._

* * *

It all came to a head a week later, when he went for his internship with Mr. Stark. He had gone two weeks without sleep now, and it was really taking a toll. 

He only just managed to scrape by on his internship; his mind felt sluggish and he was having trouble keeping up with Mr. Stark. 

By the end of the session, he was sure that Mr. Stark suspected that something was up and he was right; Mr. Stark followed him to his training session, something which he usually didn't do.

Training was horrible. He managed to stumble through the warm-ups but it all went wrong from there. When it came to punching bags, his form was off and he was too tired to hit at his usual strength, and he could see Natasha eyeing him critically.

Hand-to-hand combat was worse. He could barely throw a punch, and his spidey-sense was the only thing that was keeping him in the game.

After Natasha took him down for the fifth time, she asked, "Peter, what's going on with you today?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, getting back up slowly.

"Clearly, there is something."

"I'm fine."

The next thing he knew he was back on the mat again, his legs having been knocked out from under him with a swift spin kick. 

Natasha stood over him with a raised eyebrow. "You still want to try saying that everything's fine?"

"Yes," he grunted. He tried to get back up, but his body had other ideas, it decided that now would be the perfect time to go limp.

"Peter?" Natasha asked, this time with a hint of concern.

" _'_ m fine," he muttered, dragging himself over to where his water bottle lay, "Just need a drink."

But Mr. Stark was there, peering into his water bottle. "This doesn't look like water to me, Peter."

"It's an energy drink," he said, going for a half-truth.

"Really? Cause I can smell some coffee in here. Want to explain what's going on?"

Peter was too tired to lie. "Need it to stay awake."

Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And how long _have_ you been up, exactly?"

"Thin' two weeks."

"T _wo weeks?!_ " Mr. Stark shouted. "You've been up for _two goddamn weeks?_ "

"Have work to do, need to stay awake."

Mr. Stark looked ready to explode. Before he could say anything else, Peter said slowly, "Mr. Stark? I think I'm going crash now."

And he promptly fell asleep.

* * *

"I'm going to kill him when he wakes up," Tony snarled.

"I don't think you should do that. Then May will kill _you,_ " Natasha said, sounding bored. 

Tony rounded on her. "How can you be so-so _calm?_ The kid just told us that he hasn't slept in two weeks!"

Natasha looked mildly amused. "You do the exact same thing."

Tony spluttered. "Tha-That's different."

She raised her eyebrows. "How so?"

"I have work that I need to get done!"

"I believe Peter does too."

"That's not-How-I can't-Whose side are you on here, Natasha?"

Natasha sighed. "Look, I agree that Peter shouldn't have stayed awake for too long, but all I'm saying is that you don't have much of a high ground when it comes to sleeping schedules either. I think that you should leave the lecturing to May for this."

She strode off, leaving Tony in a confused and outraged state.

* * *

Peter woke up in a very comfortable bed. He got up slowly and looked around blearily. 

"Nice to see you awake, Peter," FRIDAY said in a cheerful voice. 

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It is 10:00 on Saturday morning. You have slept for sixteen hours."

"What?!" he yelped, getting up quickly and leaving the room. 

"I got to- I need to-"

He got no farther than that because he ran into Mr. Stark.

"Kid," Mr. Stark said, his eyes narrowing.

Peter gulped. "I guess you're mad at me, huh?"

"Oh, I'm not mad."

"No. I'm just disappointed."

Peter slumped. Somehow, that felt even _worse._

"I just-Why did you feel the need to do it, Peter. You were up for two whole weeks!"

"I just- I had a lot of stuff to do. My finals are coming up and I needed to study, but I needed more time, so I stayed up," Peter mumbled. 

Mr. Stark sighed. "Look, Peter, I may not like it, but I _do_ understand having too much work to do. I used to pull work binges all the time, but now, I'm learning to compromise. You have to do the same, because this isn't healthy, Peter. Take something off your list for a little while. Finals are about a week away, if I'm correct. How about you don't go out as Spider-Man for a while?"

"What! No! I can't do that!"

"Why not!"

"Because-because- I just can't! You wouldn't understand."

"Believe me, Peter, I think I understand attachment to an alternate superhero identity better than most. But you're not doing anyone favours by going out like this. Do you seriously think that you're in fit condition to protect people like _this?_ You're practically asking for death."

Peter had to grudgingly admit that he was right. 

"If you go out like this, Peter, and you face someone and you get shot at? That bullet is going to hit you 100%. Going out like this is irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous."

Peter hunched in on himself.

Mr. Stark sighed. "Look kid, I understand why you don't want to give up Spider-Man, but health is important to do that. If you go out unhealthy, you're risking your lives and the lives of civilians. Got it?"

" _'_ m sorry, Mr. Stark," Peter mumbled.

"Look kid, it's ok, just don't do the same thing again next time. Capiche?"

Peter nodded miserably. "Capiche."

Mr. Stark smiled. "Good. But I have to warn you," he winced, "your aunt is _not_ happy."

Peter paled and nearly fainted when he heard Aunt May's voice.

"Peter Benjamin Parker, why did you _ever_ think that it would be a good idea to not sleep for _two weeks?_ "

**Author's Note:**

> So how do you think it was? This was a headcanon I had for a lot time, so I'm glad to finally write it out.   
> I would love it if you dropped a comment or kudos! (They're my form of coffee;)  
> Stay safe!


End file.
